Governance/Compliance

John Chambers and Myron Ullman, CEOs of Intel and JCPenney, raised eyebrows recently by co-writing a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in which they called for Congress to approve legislation that would “break the business model” of “patent-assertion firms,” otherwise known as patent trolls, which collectively cost the two companies more than one-third of a billion dollars in legal expenses over the last five years.

At large publicly-held companies, one CEO after another is being battered or at least threatened by private-equity groups, celebrity corporate raiders and other activist shareholders that are holding company chiefs’ feet to the fire as never before. Here are 6 ways CEOs can prepare and protect themselves and their companies when activist stockholders begin sniffing around.

THORN: Paranoia festers in an Ecuadorian embassy. Julian Assange has launched an attack on Google, saying the search giant has turned “big and bad,” and characterizing its executive chairman Eric Schmidt as a government agent trying to further U.S. “imperialist” ambitions. The Wikileaks founder, who is under Justice Department criminal investigation for leaking thousands of classified diplomatic cables, lashes out at the Internet giant in his upcoming book. Assange, who has spent the past two years claiming asylum to avoid facing rape accusations, also ...

For many CEOs, taking a company public is often part of the longer-term plan. IPO activity remains strong, both globally and in the United States. For example, as of October 20, 2014, 305 IPOs had been priced globally, a year-over-year change of over 50 percent.

A new report issued by Deloitte’s Center for Corporate Governance and the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals (the Society) identifies board refreshment and composition as a significant focus area for board members this coming year.

Serving on a nonprofit board not only is a way to give back, but it can also generate good will toward your company’s brand while also providing a new avenue for networking with important contacts. Here are 8 reasons CEOs give for getting involved in nonprofit boards.

Corporate boards of directors are increasingly reaching down below the second layer of management to name new chief executive officers. By accelerating the promotion of these executives, boards hope that the new CEOs’ ability to understand and act upon signals in today’s unpredictable environment will more than offset their relative inexperience.